Focal point broadcast Ethiopia
On Sunday evening, a broadcast of Brandpunt is devoted to adoption from Ethiopia. The KRO tries to show a failing adoption practice based on the story of a girl. However, Brandpunt paints a wrong picture of the girl portrayed. Although there are errors in her papers, all those involved were aware that the biological parents were still alive and clarity was also given about her age during the procedure. For privacy reasons, Wereldkinderen cannot disclose any information that shows that this adoption has been made in a responsible manner.
Wereldkinderen is not the party that has filed the summary proceedings against the broadcast. Wereldkinderen is in favor of openness about adoption, but prefers not to go into individual cases publicly.
Wereldkinderen has had research carried out and stopped with new adoptions in 2009.
Wereldkinderen has been mediating for adoptions from Ethiopia since 1985. In order to learn from our work in the past and to continuously improve the quality of our work, Wereldkinderen commissioned a study in 2009 into the background of 18 randomly selected mediations from the period 2004-2008. In 2009 the conclusions of this investigation gave rise to the temporary non-processing of new adoption applications. Questions about the results of the investigation were also asked in the House of Representatives at the time. The result was a stricter procedure for new mediations from Ethiopia. The stricter procedure means, among other things, that the backgrounds of the children are examined extra before their adoption is heard in court. And that information about distance and adoption is provided to the biological relatives at an early stage to make them aware of alternative care and the impact of giving up.
Frequently asked Questions
1. Is it true that the girl's age has been lowered on purpose?
No, a skeleton photo was even taken on the recommendation of the contact person and assessed by the pediatrician. The age that came out of that was higher and that has changed on the Dutch papers.
2. Was the child orphaned on paper?
The girl has never been registered as an orphan in Wereldkinderen's papers. The background story is described in detail in the file and as such has also been discussed with the adoptive parents.
3. Brandpunt quote: “There have been false testimonies in court, papers have been forged and that has been supported by Wereldkinderen”, what is your opinion?
We do not recognize this image. If this happens we will reject it. The court hearing is the conclusion of the entire procedure, children are represented by the home, where children come from. At the time, Wereldkinderen only represented the adoptive parents, sometimes not even in a session. The verdict was passed on to the adoptive parents who sent us this document. We only saw this after parents had returned from Ethiopia. The procedure on this point was changed in May 2010; adoptive parents must now appear in court themselves. This is one of the adjustments Ethiopia has made.
The girl's case has been discussed at the ministry and with the court in Ethiopia. The court then stated that a ruling cannot be reversed.
4. Why did Wereldkinderen stop adopting in 2009?
The investigation revealed that in two adoptions the background information in the file did not correspond to the current situation at the time. Children were identified as orphans in our information, but the mothers were later found to be alive. In 2006 the Ethiopian legislation was changed, so that giving up a child was no longer punishable. Before that time, we often encountered in files that mothers had died, but turned out to be alive. Afterwards, that was no longer an issue. We have brought this up time and again and asked our contact person to check situations in reality.
5. Background information does not correspond to reality
Wereldkinderen has always made additions to the child report itself. In a number of cases from the report it appears that after adoption the background information is different from that stated in the file.
6. What has Wereldkinderen done to protect personal data from files?
The file and field research was done by an external researcher who was employed by Wereldkinderen at the time. Employees - including this researcher - are bound by a specific confidentiality clause. He was able to view the files on Wereldkinderen's desk. The information about the child in the procedure was the starting point for this. A report has been drawn up by the researcher, in which all data has been anonymised. The report contains no information that can be traced directly to families or adoptees.
Wereldkinderen is required by Article 17e of the “Inclusion of Foreign Children for Adoption Act” and the “Quality Framework for Intercountry Adoption Permit Holders” under point IV d (Control of foreign partner organizations is obliged to investigate the quality of its adoption procedures..
Completely against the contract, the researcher shared the report or parts of it with journalists from Brandpunt and Trouw, thereby violating confidentiality.
7. Are those involved aware of which files have been examined?
No, Wereldkinderen has recently given its own opinion on the files examined. Additional questions have been issued in Ethiopia in a number of cases. Once all information has been received, those directly involved will be contacted. In the other files examined, there is no reason to contact them because no issues have arisen there.
Why only now when the investigation was already completed in 2009?
Wereldkinderen has had to give priority to the completion of the procedures of children who were in the home at that time. It was assessed for each individual child whether adoption was in their interest. The last children have recently arrived in the Netherlands. The Ministry of Women Affairs in Ethiopia and the Ministry in the Netherlands have been closely involved in this and this has taken more than a year.
8. Quote: “The entire adoption process is riddled with fraudulent acts and criminal activity, such as falsifying records, wrong birth dates and orphaned children. “
No, adoptions have always been carried out in the interest of the children, there are no indications that children have been adopted incorrectly, but it has become apparent that some birth families with a different story have initiated the adoption.
9. What will Wereldkinderen do now in Ethiopia?
In 2011, Wereldkinderen will no longer work with a FosterHome for temporary care and a new working method will be developed for adoptions and programs.
Through the awarded subsidy from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Wereldkinderen will work together with local partners in Ethiopia to improve child protection in Ethiopia. The goal of these efforts is that we work even more than in the past to prevent adoption. Only in extreme cases, when no other intervention is an option, can a child be helped with responsible adoption.
10. What do you say to all those children who have been adopted from Ethiopia and want to verify their background information.
Wereldkinderen once again checked the outcome of the investigation into the 18 files, concluding that the adoptions were made responsibly at the time. When all information is available, we will first inform those directly involved and determine how we will deal with this for the others.
Adoption was fairly small-scale until 2006, after which the numbers increase. This increase must be seen in the light of an HIV epidemic, but also by broadening the possibility of renunciation. Before 2006, mothers could only give up if their child was conceived as a result of rape or if the mother was seriously ill, after that a child could be surrendered if they were demonstrably living in poverty.
11. What is Wereldkinderen doing now to prevent children from unjustly ending up in proceedings.
It has not been established that children have been wrongly included in a procedure. When designing a new procedure, all points of concern will be taken into account to prevent this as much as possible.
12. What do you expect from the Ethiopian government?
We are in good talks with the government, they see that there are weak links in the system and are doing everything they can to improve. During a visit with the Ministry of Security and Justice in 2009, talks were already held to strengthen the system together with UNICEF and other organisations. Ethiopia attended a meeting in The Hague last year. Joining the Hague Convention would be a good step. We consulted with a number of European partners in Brussels on 14 December to see how we can jointly strengthen the system. The partner organizations agree with us that an independent child protection system that guarantees children's rights would already be a huge step in the right direction. The difficult thing about the current system is that as a placement organization you have to investigate the background of the children yourself and determine for yourself whether adoption is in the best interests of the child.
13. You do not comply with your legal obligation to inform biological parents
There is no legal obligation. Adoptive parents are required to send 15 years of reports and photos to the ministry in Ethiopia. Wereldkinderen makes reports and sends them to the homes where children come from. Biological parents can then inquire at these homes and stay informed about the lives of their children.
You can reach us by phone
We can imagine that adoptive parents and children from Ethiopia will have questions about this case and their own adoption. A telephone team is available to answer as many questions as possible. Wereldkinderen can be reached by telephone from 9 am to 5 pm. Because it is impossible to estimate in advance how many calls will be made, we have answered the most obvious questions in the text above.
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